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Shidohari's Tank Journals

It's going to be short and sweet for the moment as i'm in the middle of my second 50% water change in a row for the ten gallon as the NitrItes were back up to 1.0 today.

I also did a 50% water change on the 4 gallon today due to the .25 ammonia reading. As it's a smaller tank and not even half through cycle yet i didn't want to take any chances.

Going to check the NitrItes on the 10 gallon after this second change. And if things pan out i will dose both with seachams and call it a WC day.

Per fishmommie's advice, i'm not going to change the PH on my water. Both the tap water and the aquarium water in both tanks is 8.2. the fish are still alive in both tanks and don't want to kill them with PH SHOCK.

Nitrites are holding at .25 for now. which probably means i'll be doing 1-2 wc tomorrow for the 10 gallon tank. If i have to do any WC thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday of this coming week, they'll be morning changes as i am attending a anime convention i staff at yearly. Then monday i'll switch it back to a late afternoon/evening schedule if a WC is required.

Rose is playing with the cory cat shrimp pellet again. I swear he only spits out the normal pellets to play with them (which is why i only put three or four in his tank today while the water was down. The cats will eat them) then i put three shrimp pellets in the ten gallon (one for each cory) after today's second water change.

The crypto is filling out nicely in both tanks. and there's a new leaf growing on the anubis that i left in the ten gallon.

Regarding your PH. my suggestion was to leave it as is until your cycle is complete. It may go down once that happens. If not and your still concerned, however, I just spotted this on another thread. It's from Steeler1

"So here's what works for me. The water where we live is very good water but high in pH 8.0 and hard. Buy yourself a box of AZOO peat moss or any organic peat moss. Put it in the bag that comes with it or if you buy the peat moss elsewhere you may have to buy a media bag. Put the bag (after rinsing) in with your filter media. After 3-4 weeks my pH lowers to 6.5, Remove the Peat from the filter at this time because it will continue to soften the water and that can mess up the ammonia level in your tank. Your driftwood will help buffer the pH and hardness. You will notice the pH go back up after a water change but again the driftwood will help buffer it back down.

This works from me, you should not use chemicals to lower your pH. They work for some people but most people here will tell you they are a quick fix and not good for your fish in the long run. Others will tell you to let the fish acclimate to the pH which is fine but alot of your S. American fish show their best colors in lower pH and if you become advanced enough to want to try and spawn any of them they can't because they need the soft water."

So - there's a possible solution for you PH problem if it continues to be hi after your cycle is complete. thanks Steeler. What a guy

I started this tank about early to mid october. I think it was closer to mid october. I know it's been a little over a month as i've changed the carbon filter twice. (the second time i changed it at two weeks due to the coloration) so i think maybe i've had the tank five weeks?

I don't have any driftwood in my tank. I don't know if any would even fit in a ten gallon.

But i do know my tank water in both tanks when i was using the strips was either hard or very hard.

I started this tank about early to mid october. I think it was closer to mid october. I know it's been a little over a month as i've changed the carbon filter twice. (the second time i changed it at two weeks due to the coloration) so i think maybe i've had the tank five weeks?

For future reference, don't touch any of the media in the filters. Don't change the filter media, even if it has carbon in it. Each time you took out the media that held the carbon, you removed the beneficial bacteria colonies that were growing. This may be one of the reason's your tank isn't cycled yet - you threw away all the beneficial bacteria that was growing on those carbon filter inserts.

It doesn't matter how dark and icky the media looks. Just leave it be until your cycle is complete. And even then, if you're only running one filter, don't remove the old media when you put in new. let them run side by side for a month or so before you toss the old.

Most people rarely replace their filter media. They just take it out of the filter when they do a water change and swish it in the water they removed from the tank to clean it up a little and put it right back in the filter.

Don't clean your filter during this process either. and vac as little as possible to avoid losing the BB that is growing there.
And never ,ever rinse anything from your tank in tap water. it will immediately kill all BB.